Railway-car coupling.



. WITNESSES f f/YP'ENTORfi M I J. F. & V. S. DURBIN.

RAILWAY GAR. COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED 001227, 1909.

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A PLANDORAPH cm, WASHINGTON D c UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES F. DURBIN AND VOTAW S. DURBIN, F FORT SCOTT, KANSAS.

RAILWAY-CAR COUPLING.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JAMES F. DURBIN and VoTAw- S. DURBIN, citizens of the United States, residing at Fort Scott, in the county of Bourbon and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Gar Couplings, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to railway car couplings, and pertains more particularly to the type of coupling embodied in. the descrip tion set forth in our application #506,998,

' filed July th, 1909, in which, generally speaking, opposing heads are provided with eccentrically pivoted knuckles having offset projections which are adapted to be engaged and latched behind latch pins which are vertically slidable through the center of said heads.

The object of the invention is to provide a coupling, in which the self-opening knuckles are provided with improved means whereby they are locked in closed position.

It is also the object to provide said knuckle looking or latching means of such structure that the self-opening knuckle will. aid ,or complete the opening of the latch member.

In furtherance of the last mentioned obj ect it is the purpose to provide a coupling in which the latch pin requires merely to be started, and the self-opening knuckle will then act on said latch pin to remove the latter a sufficient distance out of the way to permit the complete opening of the knuckle.

WVith the above and other objects, which will hereinafter appear, in view our invention will now be fully set forth and described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional elevation through the head of a coupling member, showing the knuckle in locked position, Fig. 2 is a cross sectional elevation through the coupling head, Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the latch pin, and Figs. 4 and 5 are perspective views of the knuckle employed in our improved device. 4

Referring more particularly to said drawings, 1 indicates the coupling heads each of which is provided with a knuckle 2, pivoted at one side of the head as upon the pivot pin 3, and having a latch member or shank 4, which projects and operates within the cavity formed in each head.

More particularly each of the knuckles 2 Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 27, 1909.

Serial No. 524,804.

consists of a locking head portion having the rearwardly projecting shank 4, which in cross section is substantially a continuation of the head portion projected rearwardly from one side thereof, and terminates in a portion 5 having a face 6 which is adapted to project alongside of and beyond the locking or latching means, when the knuckle is in closed position. Said head portion of the knuckle 2 is formed substantially of the same height or slightly longer than the height of the head 1, and tapers from top to bottom. Said head portion is also provided with curved inner and outer faces. The knuckle v2 is thereby adapted to interlock with a similarly formed head carried by an opposing coupling head. The knuckle 2 is pivoted to the head 1 intermediate. the length of the shank portion 4, on the above mentioned pivot pin 3, which latter is j ournaled centrally in projections formed at one side of the head 1. The lower face of the shank near its inner end, is beveled to conform to the beveled face of an incline 7 formed on the inside of the head 1 to oppose said beveled portion'of the shank 4, whereby to cause the knuckle 2 to ride vertically up and down upon its pivot pin 3 ,as the shank 4 swings to and fro in the recesses formed in said head 1 and is operated on by the bevel 7.

Located within the cavity of the coupling head 1, and in the rear central portion thereof is a latch pin 8. Said latch pin, when in its lowered posit-ion hangs from a pin 9, and projects into an aperture 10 formed through the bottom of the head 1, said pin 9 being adapted to operate in a slot formed in said latch pin 8. The upper end of said latch pin 8 projects into a dome 11 formed on the top, and preferably integral therewith, of the head 1 and being formed with a cavity 12 which communicates with the interior of the head 1 through an opening 13 in which the latch pin works. As before stated, said latch pin 8 is provided with a slot, through which the pin 9 projects to support said latch pin, and the lower portion of said latch pin is provided at one side with a recess in which is pivotally mounted a ring 14 to which a chain 15 is secured, said chain being then passed through an aperture 16, formed in the upper portion of the head 1 at one side thereof. Formed preferably integral with the inner portion of the head 1, and inclined oppositely to the said incline 7 is a track-way 17 said track-way lying in Patented Mar. 5,1912.

the same vertical transverse plane in which the latch pin 8 lies, and as the latch pin is raised from its'normal position by lifting on chain 15 the lower end 18 of said latch pin will be carried out of the aperture 10 andswung over upon the surface of the track-way 17, after which the lower end of said latch pin is in position to ride freely upon said track-way. The lower portion of the latch pin 8 is provided With an offset 20, affording on its upper side an inclined surface 21. This inclined surface 21 acts as an abutment or stop which strikes against the upper portion of'the coupling head to limit the upward movement of the latch pin 8.

Now, from our former application, the action of the knuckle 2, after the latter has been unlatched will be readily understood, in that it is actuated by gravity to swing outwardly and to one side away from the front of the head 1 to its unlocked position. Also, the operation .of our improved latch pin will be evident from the above description. If the knuckle 2 is in the locked position shown in Fig. 1, it will be only necessary to lift upwardly upon the chain 15 until the lower end 18 of the latch pin 8 is lifted upon the track-way 17. The pin being so mounted that its movement upon the track-way is practically unrestricted, the force of gravity which actuates the knuckle 2 to open the latter will also cause the shank 4 of said knuckle 2 to push against the pin 8 and cause the latter to continue its course upwardly on the track-way 17, thereby gradually pushing it out of the path of said.

shank 4 and permitting the latter to ride partly by and in front of the same until the knuckle 2 has reached its open position. When in this position, the outer end of the shank 4 will still engage the latch-pin and prevent it from swinging back and dropping into locking position. When it is desired to lock the knuckle 2 in its closed position, the latch pin 8 is raised to the limit of its upward movement by means of the chain 15, until the knuckle has been swung to closed position, thereby carrying the shank 4 to its innermost position where it rest-s upon the incline 7 and the latch pin 8 is then released, and rides of its own weight down the trackway 17, and drops into the aperture 10, thereby locking the knuckle in closed position.

From the above description. and the exposition of its operation, it will be evident that our improved coupling head latching device is an efficient and practicable structure. Except for the slight pull required to lift the pin initially out of the aperture 10,

the knuckle is practically self-unlocking and opening, and also, when the knuckle is swung into its closed position the'mere action of dropping the latch pin is suflicient to permit it to fall by gravity into position to lock the shank of the knuckle.

Having thus fully described our invention, what we desire to claim and secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. A car coupling, comprising, in combination, a head, a self-opening knuckle piv-' oted to said head and having an extended shank, a pivoted, vertically-movable latchpin located in the path of movement of said shank and adapted to engage a fixed part of the head to lock the knuckle, said latchpin being adapted, when released from such engagement, to be moved to one side by the shank when the knuckle swings to open position.

2. A car coupling, comprising, in combination, a head, a knuckle, a shank carried by said knuckle, a slotted latch-pin pivotally suspended in front of said shank and having locking engagement with the head, a track-way formed in said head, and means for releasing said latch-pin, the latter being adapted to be moved over said track-wav by the shank in the opening movement of the knuckle.

3. A car coupling, comprising, in combination, a head having a track-way formed therein, a knuckle, a shank carried by said knuckle, and a vertically movable latch-pin suspended in front of said shank and engaging at its lower end a fixed part of the head, said latch-pin, when released from such engagement, being adapted to have its lower end moved over said track-way by the shank in the opening movement of the knuckle.

4. A car coupling, comprising, in combination, a head having a track-way formed therein, a self-opening knuckle, a shank Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, ashin n D- 

